


The love of her life

by Sarah_Jones



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017), Riverdale (TV 2017) RPF
Genre: Hospital, Hurt Jughead Jones, Protective Betty, Unconditional Love, badly injured Jughead Jones, bughead - Freeform, falice - Freeform, post 2x21 fic, protective jughead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-06-29 04:30:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15722013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarah_Jones/pseuds/Sarah_Jones
Summary: This Story is set immediately after season 2 episode 21 “Judgment Night” of RiverdaleFP carried his sons lifeless body out of the woods. Betty stood there like she was frozen, she could neither move nor breathe, and it was like the world around her was rolling past in Slow motion.“I know honey its bad, but he is strong he’s going to make it”“You don’t know that, what if he doesn’t, I can’t lose him Cheryl I just can’t”“Hey you won’t okay, he’s a fighter, Jughead Jones is not going to die tonight”





	1. What you gon' do When there's blood in the water

**Author's Note:**

> Hey Guys,  
> This is my very first Story ever and the reason I wrote it was because I thought that this was such a great storyline in the show but they played it down so much. The season 2 finale disappointed me a lot because they always talked about how Jug almost died but we only got 2 hospital scenes after all and let´s be honest how can someone get beaten up by thirty men and not even have a single broken bone?! Also Penny said he literally didn´t breathe anymore so how can he get discharged out of the hospital after 2 days and already walk around like nothing ever happened. Also they didn´t mention his serpent tattoo a single time! Aditionally Im a Bughead shipper with all my heart and it seemed like Betty didnt even care that her Boyfriend "almost died" and that broke my heart. I get that she just found out that her father is a serial killer but she could have cared about Jughead at least a little tiny bit more. It didnt have to be as intense as my fic but you know a little more love would have been appropriate. Dont get me wrong I love Jughead so much hes definitely my favourite Character and it would have hurt to see him so injured but as long as he wouldn´t have died, I would have loved it.  
> Anyways, I hope you like my story even if you are not a Bughead shipper.

Betty stood there like she was frozen, she could neither move nor breathe, and it was like the world around her was rolling past in Slow motion. She could see Archie running towards FP who was holding Jugheads beaten to unconsciousness injured body, helping him to lay Jug down to the cold ground. Them and two other serpents including sweet pea started trying everything to bring Jughead back to life because apparently, he wasn’t breathing and there was barely even a heartbeat. The one serpent who Betty didn’t know started an attempt at resuscitation. Bettys eyes were so focused on what happened with Jug that she didn’t even notice that Cheryl and Toni were standing right next to her the whole time, shaking her and yelling at her because Betty stood there as if she would faint every second. She was so pale and motionless, and she didn’t even give them a look, she was in shock.

C: “Betty talk to us!”  
T: “Betty is everything alright, please say something”

And then suddenly Betty got ripped out of her trance and all her emotions hit her at once, she finally realised what was happening, she realised that she was just watching the love of her life fighting for his life and there was nothing she could do to help him. All she felt was fear and pain, even though it was Jughead who was hurt so badly, the pain she felt in her heart was worse than anyone could ever imagine, and it was just too much for Betty to handle considering that not even an hour ago she had also found out that her own Father was the Black Hood and now the boy she loved so much was most probably going to die. Betty broke down to her knees into a puddle of tears with Toni and Cheryl by her side trying to comfort her which seemed to be almost impossible though because Bettys love for Jughead was so strong and seeing him like this felt like a hundred knifes stabbed into her heart. Archie and the others were still trying to bring Jughead back to consciousness, but he didn’t open his eyes yet and every additional second of uncertainty whether he’s going to make it or not felt like a lifetime for Betty, all she wanted to do was run over to Jughead but for some reason she couldn’t. Everything around Betty was imploding, everything was falling apart, and she was completely helpless which made her sick, she wasn’t someone who just stood around, she was someone who took action but not now, not this time because now she was the one who needed help. Betty was breathing very heavily, she had a crying fit and she just couldn’t move. while she didn’t know what was going on with her Cheryl knew exactly, she knew because she had gone through something like this a couple times herself after Jason died, Betty was having a panic attack. 

C: “Betty I need you to look at me okay? Everything is going to be fine. Just look at me, you have to take a deep breath, in and out. Good, very good”  
Betty did what Cheryl said and she could finally catch her breath B: “Jughead” she sighed.  
C: “I know honey its bad, but he is strong he’s going to make it”  
B: “You don’t know that, what if he doesn’t, I can’t lose him Cheryl I just can’t”  
C: “Hey you won’t okay, he’s a fighter, Jughead Jones is not going to die tonight”

That was the first time that night that someone mentioned the word “death” and it wasn’t going to be the last time. Even though Betty already had this thought in der mind, that her precious Jughead could die, hearing it out loud hit her like a punch in the face. Ever since Jughead joined the Serpents Betty knew that him getting hurt was just a matter of time, she always feared that day but now that it has come, its worse than she could have ever imagined. It’s worse than any nightmare simply because she can’t just wake up and call Jughead to make sure he’s fine, no this was the reality and it was terrifying. The thought of losing him was killing her inside, she always wanted to protect Jughead whether by trying to join the serpents herself to prevent him from getting into trouble or by asking Toni to keep an eye on him for her but none of it worked out an none of it helped him now. Its been seven minutes now, seven minutes of Jughead not breathing, seven minutes of four men trying to bring him back and seven minutes of Betty going through hell. It’s been seven minutes, but it felt like hours to all of them who were there. In the meantime, Archie couldn’t hold up his strong facade anymore and bursted into tears as well, he couldn’t stand the look of his completely disfigured best friend any longer especially not because he’s been treating him so awfully lately and now he feared that he would never get the chance to apologize. He was afraid of not being able to tell the boy he used to call a brother how important he was to him. And that was when the miracle happened. All of a sudden Jughead opened his eyes and gasped. As if struck by lightning Betty who only a second ago was crying in Cheryl’s arms immediately ran over to Jug. Without thinking she pushed sweat pea and the other serpent out of the way and fell to her knees next to her beloved boyfriend. Just now that she had a closer look on him she saw how bad it really was, that almost every inch of his body was injured and covered in blood that was when she first questioned what had actually happened. Who the hell was capable of doing something like this to another human being, who the hell would do this to her Jughead. She put her hands around his face, gently stroked it and tried to calm him down while tears were falling down her cheeks.

B: “I’m here Juggie, I’m right here and I am not going to leave, do you hear me?”  
J: “Betty” he answered weakly  
B: “yes, it’s me Jug. Everything will be fine okay? I promise”  
unaware if she could really keep that promise but she needed to be strong now, for Jughead. She knew that just because he was conscious now that didn’t mean that he was safe, he looked so weak and fragile after all and Betty could see it in his eyes, the eyes that she loved so much, that he was in a lot of pain.  
J: “I’m so…he coughed…I’m so sorry”  
She interrupted him.  
B: “Shhh no Jug you don’t have to be, it’s okay but can you tell me what happened?”  
J: “Penny and the Ghoulies, they… they said if I sacrificed myself they wouldn’t go after the serpents”  
B: “You sacrificed yourself?” She couldn’t believe what he just said. More and more tears came to her eyes, as much as she wanted to stop she couldn’t it was impossible to hold back the tears.  
He extended his arm and wiped the tears from her cheeks.  
J: “I love you Betty, I love you so much please never forget that”  
Betty shacked her head and sobbed  
B: “No Jug don’t say that, I know what you’re trying to do but it’s not the time for goodbyes okay, you can’t do this to me”  
J: “Okay, I’m sorry” he looked Betty intensively in the eyes “But stop crying I don’t like to see you cry”  
How do I deserve this boy? Betty thought. He is in so much pain god forbid he’s near to death and he was still concerned about her.  
B: “I love you Jughead Jones, more than anything do you hear me?”  
J: “I love” he couldn’t finish his sentence because suddenly a stinging pain ran through his body and he could just barely breath again. 

 

B: “No,no,no Jug stay with me please” Betty had already forgotten that everyone was standing around them, she just noticed it when Toni and FP kneeled down next to her.  
T: “Jughead you just need to hold on a little longer okay, you can do it, the ambulance is on its way they’re gonna be here every moment”  
Toni must have called them when Betty had her Panic attack.  
FP: “Look at me son, I know it hurts but you gotta keep on fighting”  
Jugheads eyes blinked slowly as if he wanted to close them, all he wanted was to escape from the horrible pain.  
FP: “JUGHEAD!”  
Jughead nodded “Okay, okay”  
B: “Juggie please keep your eyes open, you heard Toni, help is coming soon, do it for me”  
With one hand Betty stroked through Jugheads raven black hair and with the other one she held his hand. That was when the relieving sirens of the ambulance sounded, and it was like music for Bettys ears. She started crying again.  
B: “Do you hear that Jug? They’re here! They’ll help you, see everything is going to be okay”


	2. Look me in my eyes Tell me everything's not fine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the next part of the "The love of her life series"  
> This chapther continues directly where the other one ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the next part of my story I hope you enjoy it!

The Paramedics jumped out of the ambulance and ran straight to Jughead. It was a man and a woman, they immediately started doing something at Jugheads body and the woman pushed Betty by side, gently though and Betty let go of Jugheads hand.  
Woman: “I’m sorry Darling but we need some space”  
Betty stood up and Archie immediately took her in his arms hugging her tightly. While the man worked really concentrated on Jughead, the woman asked them some questions.

Woman: “What’s his name?”  
“Jughead Jones” FP responded  
Woman: “Are you his father”  
FP: “Yes I am “  
Woman: “How old is he sir?”  
FP: “17, he’s 17”  
Woman: “Dear god, what happened to him?”  
“He got beaten up by some men, a gang to be specific” Archie responded before FP could.  
“And they stabbed him” Betty added crying “He has so many cuts and bruises and”  
Woman: “It’s Okay Sweetheart, I understand”

Then she turned away and talked to her colleague.  
Woman: “How is the situation?”  
Man: “Not good. Weak heartbeat, open wounds, broken bones and most probably internal damage. I think his lungs got squashed that’s why its so hard for him to breathe. We need to rush him to the hospital now or he’s going to die” He whispered the last words, but Betty was still able to hear them.

Betty shivered when she heard what the paramedic said, she imagined in how much pain Jughead must be and she just thought abut how brave and strong he was.

Woman: “We need to hurry up” she turns to Jughead “We will help you Jughead, don’t worry”  
Jughead wasn’t even able to answer anymore so he just blinked with his eyes.  
They started putting Jughead on a stretcher, the woman turned around and looked at FP

“There’s space for one of you in the ambulance, I guess you’d like to come with your son sir”  
Without hesitating FP responded, “No Betty should go she’s his girlfriend, I´ll drive right behind you with the others”. Of course, FP wanted to go with his son but he knew that Betty needed it more and he knew how much Jughead loved her, he knew that Betty gave him strength.  
Woman: “Alright let’s go then darling”

It was only the ride to the hospital, but Betty was grateful for what FP did, she went over to give him a quick hug “Thanks Mr. Jones” and then she quickly hopped into the ambulance.  
They were not allowed to lose time now, the man went to the driver’s seat and accelerated directly. The woman and Betty were in the back part of the ambulance with Jughead.

Woman: “You can sit down there at the end, sweetie”  
Betty sat at the end, at the side of Jugs head.  
Woman: “You can hold his head if you want to, talk to him, let him know that you’re here and try to distract him, what I´ll do now is going to hurt, so he’ll need you”

Betty instantly put her hands on his head and started stroking his hair again, she felt like it calmed him down.  
B: “I’m here Jug and I´ll not leave you okay, never” 

 

The Woman put him a breath mask on, gave him an infusion and some injections and then she started to check on him. The first thing she wanted to do was to clean and to bandage the big whole on Jugheads arm where once his serpent tattoo used to be, Penny cut it out. It was so painful that Jughead shouted out and tears started falling down his face. He looked at Betty.

Woman: “I know it hurts I’m so sorry kiddo I´ll hurry up”  
B: “It’s okay Jug let it all out, it will be better soon I promise” Now she wiped the tears from his eyes.

Betty never thought that she would see Jughead like this ever in her life, it was like these protective bright shoulders that she could lean on when she wasn’t feeling well were gone and she didn’t know if she would ever get them back. One thing that she did know though was that Penny and the Ghoulies would pay for what they did to Jughead. Betty wanted to see them suffer the same way Jughead was suffering. She didn’t want to cry but she just couldn’t stop.  
When the Woman was finally done she wanted to find out which bones were broken. She touched parts of his body and whenever Jughead winced or cried out she knew that there was either a broken or a sprained bone. It turned out that he had a broken leg, a dislocated shoulder and broken ribs, that was not a miracle considering that he got beaten up by like thirty men. Betty thought that it couldn’t get worse than when she bandaged the wound on Jugheads arm, but she was wrong. When the paramedic tried to stabilize Jugheads broken ribs, he screamed and moved abruptly, and that movement must have damaged his lungs even more, causing that he couldn’t breathe anymore at all so he collapsed. His eyes closed. His heart stopped beating.  
Betty was convinced that this was the end, that this has been the last time she had looked into Jugheads eyes. That she had lost the love of her life. Forever. Betty panicked. Again.

B: “JUGHEAD!” she shook his head “No Jug please don’t do this to me, you can’t leave me. I can’t live without you, wake up please wake up”  
Betty yelled at the paramedic “PLEASE HELP HIM! I CAN’T LOSE HIM”

The woman didn’t hesitate, she immediately cut Jugheads shirt open, put something on his chest, took the defibrillator and screamed “LET GO OF HIM!”. Betty did. She let go of him and sank to the floor.

 

She shocked his heart once. Nothing.

 

She shocked his heart twice. Nothing.

 

Woman: “Come on Jughead, you need to fight!”

 

Betty was only a mess now, she sat on the floor of the ambulance and cried and screamed and cried more.  
B: “NO, no, no, no, no. God please. No, this can’t be real”

That was until the paramedic shocked Jugheads heart the third time. A heartbeat. He opened his eyes. Betty couldn’t realise it.

B: “Oh my god Juggie” she stood up and looked him in the eyes.  
B: “I love you, I love you so much” that was everything she was able to say.

He may have opened his eyes, but he still couldn’t breathe. Jugheads heart was beating again now but that didn’t change the fact that his lungs were still damaged. The Woman put off the breath mask, she said that she needed to intubate him because he couldn’t breathe by his own. That meant that she had to put a tube in his throat and connect it to a machine that would pump air in his lungs for him. Betty squeezed his hand. It looked horrible but apparently it was helping. Jughead was much calmer but Betty could still see the fear in his eyes. And then finally they arrived at the hospital. The paramedics put Jughead out of the ambulance, lifted him onto another lounger and rolled him to the entrance where a medical team was already waiting to take over. Everything went so fast now, they rushed him to the operating room and Betty ran alongside, she was able to take his hand and squeeze it one last time.

B: “You will be fine now Jug, I see you later, I love you” Then she had to let go of his hand. Again. And Jughead and the doctors disappeared in the operating room.  
It all depended on this surgery now, this surgery would determine about life or death. Betty stood in front of the door of the operating room when all the stress, the fear and the pain of that night completely overwhelmed her. It was just all too much for Betty to handle, she was exhausted, and she was scared that this could have been the last time she had seen her boyfriend. Alive. Suddenly everything around her turned black and Betty fainted.  
A couple nurses picked her up, put her into a patient room and gave her an infusion so that she could get some rest. Shortly thereafter Archie, FP, Cheryl and Toni arrived at the hospital as well. 

A: “Guys where are Betty and Jug?”  
Cheryl went over to the information and asked the nurses.  
C: “Excuse me, my friend Jughead Jones was just taken here and his girlfriend was with him, Betty Cooper, can you tell me where they are?”  
Nurse: “Mister Jones was just brought to surgery and Misses Cooper is in a patient room, Its room number 206”  
A: “Wait what? Why is Betty in a patient room?” Archie panicked.  
Nurse: “Don’t worry its nothing bad she fainted from too much stress so she’s just resting now. You can go to her if you want to, she should wake up in a couple hours”  
FP: “And do you already know anything about my sons’ condition? Is he going to make it?”  
Nurse: “I’m sorry Mister Jones but I can’t say anything yet it’s too early. The doctors are doing anything they can to safe him though”  
FP: “I understand. Thank you”

Then they all went to the room where Betty was resting. Usually they would have had to wait in the waiting room where a lot of other Patients relatives were waiting too, so they were actually quite glad that they got this room just for themselves. There were a couple chairs in which Archie and FP sat down whereas Cheryl and Toni sat down on each side of Bettys bed. Once everyone took their seats it turned completely quiet, no one said a thing, everyone was exhausted, and they were all in their own thoughts. Until Cheryl broke the silence. 

C: “Jughead will live, I know it, he just has to. I mean I just saw him about two hours ago and he was completely fine, he helped me to rescue Toni and he was… fine” tears started falling down her face.  
Toni put her hand on Cheryl’s “Hey, we gotta believe in him. I mean we are talking about Jughead Jones! Like father like son, right FP?”  
FP: “Right. Ehm I just gotta go out and get some fresh air and I’ll call Alice she probably already worries about Betty, I’ll be right back” FP tried to hide it the whole time but inside he was devastated. He hasn’t always been the best father, but he still loved his son and he somehow felt responsible for what happened to him. He went out and sat down in the waiting room to call Alice.

Alice: “FP do you know what time it is! What do you want?”  
FP: “Alice its bad, I messed up” FP´s voice was shaking, and Alice knew immediately that something was wrong.  
Alice:” FP what happened, where are you?”  
FP: “I’m at the hospital”  
Alice: “what?! Are you hurt?”  
FP: “No, its Jughead he… he might die Alice”  
Alice: “Omg FP, ill be right there, is Betty with you?”  
FP: “Yes she’s here”  
Alice: “Okay”

Alice hung up the phone and while FP sat there with his hands crossed in front of his face, Archie, Cheryl and Toni were still with Betty.  
Cheryl looked at her cousin and gently stroked her hair.

C: “Poor Betty, she may lose the love of her life. I know what it's like to lose someone, but the person you chose to share your whole life with, the person that you wanted to start a family and grow old with? That’s just so tragic. I don’t even want to imagine if it was you TT” Cheryl’s voice cracked.  
T: “Hey you won’t lose me, and neither will Betty lose Jughead okay”  
“You don’t know that” Archie replied.  
T: “Hey, you guys should stop being so pessimistic!”  
Suddenly Archie’s phone vibrated, it was Veronica who left 35 messages and 7 missed calls.  
A: “Shit” Archie didn’t want to tell Veronica about it on the phone, so he decided to go and pick her up.  
A: “Ill go and get Veronica, call me when you know something new” then he left. 

He texted Veronica and when he arrived at the Pembrooke she already stood there to open the door for him. Archie hadn’t even noticed that he had blood everywhere, on his Jacket, on his hands, in his hair, or maybe he just didn’t care about it. But Veronica noticed it immediately, obviously she did, and she could also tell by the look on his face that something was very, very wrong. 

V: “Oh my god Archie, are you okay? Is that your blood?”  
A: “No Vronnie its not my blood, I’m fine, Its… Its Jugheads blood. He´s in the hospital. He got beaten up by the Ghoulies, the ones that we had this stupid car race with, remember? He got hurt really badly Vronnie They don’t know if he’s going to make it, he looked so horrible I almost couldn’t recognize him, and he didn’t breathe, I didn’t know what to do”  
V: “whoa whoa whoa Archie hold on, slow down, WHAT?!”  
Tears started showing up in Archie’s eyes. A: “I don’t want to lose him Vronnie”  
Veronica put her arms around Archie and hugged him tightly, she started crying now too. Veronica didn’t have the best relationship with Jughead, but he was still her friend and she never wanted any of her friends to get hurt. Then she thought of Betty and that she must feel like she was stuck in the worst nightmare of her life.  
V: “Archie does Betty know?”  
A: “Yes she was there when we found him, she’s in the hospital, she’s not awake though she fainted when Jughead was brought to Surgery. Cheryl, Toni and FP are with her”  
V: “Oh god my poor Betty… we need to go to the hospital, but first we get you some fresh clothes”

They drove to Archie’s house where he had to explain everything all over again to his dad and convince him to stay at home, then he changed his clothes and they drove back to the hospital. When they arrived, they saw FP crying in Alice’s arms, but they just went by and acted like they didn’t see anything since they knew exactly that FP would act like the strong one again and hide his emotions. As they were in front of the door of the patient room, they could hear noise, it was Toni who went back and forth the room and argued with someone on the phone. It was a massive chaos. 

“NO Sweet pea, you will NOT do that do you hear me!” Toni almost shouted.  
“Toni what’s wrong?” Archie asked her.  
T: “That dumbass and the other serpents want to fight against Penny and the Ghoulies but that would be their DEATH!”  
Sweet Pea: “Toni do I have to remind you of the serpent laws?!”  
T: “SCREW those laws Sweet pea! They will not bring you any good when the Serpents don’t exist anymore!”  
Archie went over to her “Put your phone on speaker Toni” she did.  
A: “Sweet pea listen to me, we all want revenge but not this way. Remember why Jughead actually is in this situation, he wanted to avoid what you are trying to do at all costs, you would completely betray him if you did this right now, don’t let his sacrifice be for nothing!”  
Sweet Pea: “Well what are we supposed to do then redhead?! Hm? Just sit around and do nothing?”  
Toni interfered “Shut it Sweet pea, Archie is right! just tell the other serpents to back off, I have an Idea, I’ll be right there”  
Toni told Archie and Veronica to call if they’d know something new about Jughead and she assured them that they wouldn’t do something dumb. FP shouldn’t know about it either because he would just get upset and that was the last thing he needed right now. Then she and Cheryl left. With a deep breath Archie let himself fall into the chair.

A: “Ufff… Damn it”  
V: “Everything is going to be fine Archiekins”  
A: “Its been almost 2 hours now and they haven’t given us any update yet. Jughead is lying on a fucking table with probably his chest open and some doctors working on him that’s just so unbelievable”  
V: “I know”

With one jerk Betty opened her eyes and sat up, she was screaming Jugheads name, she was screaming that he should come back to her and that they can’t bury him. She was completely hysterically flailing with her arms, it was like she was still sleeping, as if she was somnambulating, she had a nightmare. She even accidentally ripped out the IV of her hand. Both Archie and Veronica tried to calm her down, they talked to her, told her that it was just a dream, tried to touch her but she did not allow any of it. Veronica started crying and turned around, it was so hard for her to see her best friend like this. Betty didn’t stop, it was getting worse and worse so Archie took her hands and held them, Betty fought back but he was strong enough, he hugged her tightly so that she couldn’t move anymore, she was like stuck in a cocoon and it helped. Her screaming turned into a whimpering instead. Archie bobbed with her in his arms and she calmed down.

A: “Shhh, its okay Betty, its okay it was just a bad dream” but he knew that the reality wasn’t much better either.  
Betty leaned on him with her eyes closed B: “I’m so sorry Archie”  
A: “No Betty you don’t have to be”  
B: “I had a dream, we were at Jugs funeral, I saw him laying in a coffin, I tried to wake him up but I couldn’t and then they wanted to bury him and … and” she started crying.  
A: “He is not dead yet Betty, it’s okay”  
Veronica turned back now, she was kind of ashamed that she turned away, but it was just so hard to watch.  
A: “Betty look who’s here” Betty opened her eyes and looked at Veronica, she may didn’t look like it, but she was glad that Veronica was there.  
V: “B, I am so, so sorry. I can’t imagine what you are going through right now”

Betty didn’t say anything she just gave Veronica an appreciative look before she fell into her best friends’ arms. They didn’t say a single word to each other, they just hugged. Basically, because Veronica didn’t know what to say because all this prattle that Jughead was going to make it and that everything was okay and that its going to be fine just didn’t seem to be right to her in this situation, it just didn’t help betty right now. That was exactly what Betty needed, what she enjoyed, just the proximity of her best friend. After a while of hugging and silence, the three decided to search for a nurse or a doctor and ask for Jugheads condition since they didn’t get an update for more than two hours now. Betty was nervous, and her heart was pounding but she just needed to know how Jughead was. When they went down the floor to the information and they were just one corner away from finding out about how the surgery was going, Betty felt like she had to throw up. He just had to be fine. But what they saw when they turned around the corner wasn’t something they had expected. They saw FP and Alice standing arm-in-arm in front of a doctor who just told them about Jughead. Betty saw her mom rubbing FP´s back but she couldn’t tell if it was a good or a bad sign. The doctor’s facial expression wasn’t quite revealing either. With every step they came closer Betty got more and more nervous. She took all her courage together as they faced the backs of her mother and FP.

B: “Mom? Mister Jones?” Betty said with a soft voice.  
The moment they turned around was enough to tell if it was good or bad news. Alice and FP both had tears in their eyes.  
“Betty, Sweetheart” Alice hugged her daughter and tried to hide her tears, without success. Then she let go of her and Betty stared both FP and Alice in the eyes.  
B: “What did the doctor say? And don’t lie to me”  
FP: “Betty Jug is…” he hesitated  
Betty stepped backwards and made negative movements with her hands  
B: “No, no he’s not. He is fine right, this is just a joke, it´s not real…”  
FP stopped her “God no Betty I’m sorry he’s not dead”  
Betty took a deep breath “He is alive?”  
FP: “Yes he is alive”  
B: “There is a but though”  
FP: “Yes, there’s a but”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please make sure to leave a comment if you liked it, I´d really appreciate it, I love to exchange ideas and thoughts with you guys xoxo


	3. Oh the people ain't happy And the river has run dry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next part! Hope you enjoy it x

“Betty…” Alice stepped closer to her daughter and was just about to lay her arms around her when Betty interrupted.

B: “No mom, stop it, just tell me what’s going on!”  
FP: “There were complications during the surgery, he had serious internal bleeding that made his heart stop again, but they were able to bring him back” 

Betty listened closely to every single word that came out of FP´s mouth as if her life depended on it.

B: “Is he still in surgery?”  
FP: “Yes he is, they said they will need some more time, but it shouldn’t take too long anymore. Betty that wasn’t everything though”

Betty stared at FP with a questioning look.

FP: “There was unexpected brain swelling which they got under control, but they don’t know yet if his brain was damaged from that, also the broken leg is more complicated than they thought, if he wakes up he will definitely need physical therapy to be able to walk again”  
“When he wakes up” Betty argued.  
“What?” FP didn’t understand.  
B: “You said if he wakes up, but it´s when” Betty sounded very determined.  
FP: “Betty you heard what I said, didn’t you? It looks bad. We may have to accept the thought that he will not wake up and even if, he will probably not be the same anymore”

Betty had tears in her eyes, but she sounded angry, very angry “accept? ACCEPT? I will NEVER accept that, and neither should you! How do you even dare to think something like that?!”  
FP: “Betty I’m sorry…”  
B: “No. I don’t want to hear that. He WILL wake up! even if he won’t be able to walk at first, I will hep him, if he has any struggles because of his brain, I will support him, if he has any panic attacks or nightmares because of these horrible memories, I will be with him. I LOVE him, and all of this won’t change anything about it.”

Then she turned away and walked outside, Veronica followed her. 

Alice looked at FP, he looked devastated. She felt the need to apologize for what her daughter said but, on the inside, she was impressed. She was impressed by what her daughter said, by how passionate she was, and she finally realized how much Betty really loved the Jones-boy. She already told her a couple times, but Alice always believed that it was just her first love and that it would be over any time soon, but she was wrong. She started imagining if she could have said the same about her husband, her murdering wimp of a husband, and she quickly concluded that she couldn’t have, that she actually never really loved him. Could she have said the same about her early love FP? Maybe, but maybe not. Alice was proud of her daughter but there was still a sorrowful FP standing next to her.

Alice: “I’m sorry FP, I’m sure Betty didn’t mean it like that she is just very agitated because of everything that’s going on right now”  
FP: “No Alice, she is right I am such an Idiot. I should believe in my son, but it’s just so hard to think positive. Especially because I am the reason why he is in this situation, it´s all my fault”  
Alice: “FP what do you mean?”  
FP: “We voted, whether to fight against Penny and the Ghoulies or not and Jug was against it. I knew he was right, that this was a fight we couldn’t win but I was just too angry to see it. I left him behind in the trailer and drove to the wyrm. I know my son Alice, I should have known that he would think of something to prevent that fight, I shouldn’t have left him alone”  
Alice rubbed FP´s back “No FP, it wasn’t your fault, it was his decision and he would have found a way to enforce his plan even if you would have stayed with him and you know that”

Archie who silently stood next to them the whole time gave FP an encouraging look

A: “Misses Cooper is right. Jughead is very stubborn, there’s nothing you or anybody else could have done to prevent this”

Archie didn’t say this to cheer FP up, he said this because it was the truth. He knew Jughead too well, there genuinely wasn’t anyone who could have stopped him from doing what he did, not even Betty. Jughead may be shy and a loner but if it was about his loved ones, a true fighter came out of him and he would protect them at any costs. Even if it costed his life. Archie always knew it, but this was the ultimate proof. And for that, Archie admired him.

It was 5 AM now, the sun slowly started to rise and Betty Cooper, the perfect girl next door sat on the stairs in front of the Riverdale general hospital and watched the sun and cried. She practically lost everything overnight, first her father due to him being a serial killer and now maybe the love of her life. It was disastrous. Veronica sat next to her best friend, not knowing yet that her very own father was the actual reason for all of this. Both girls were helpless, neither of them had the power to do something for Jughead. Neither Betty with her smart head and generous heart nor Veronica with her tricky plans and all her money. 

V: “I always thought that Jughead was going to make your heart ache one day”

Veronica gave Betty a little smirk.

“And as your bestie I was prepared to slam him to the wall for that, but I never thought that he would do it in this kind of way”  
Betty looked at Veronica as her eyes filled with tears.  
B: “He called me V”  
V: “Who called you?”  
B: “Jug, right before he went to sacrifice himself, he called me and told me that he loved me…” Betty sobbed, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she could finish her sentence “He said that he would never stop loving me and that I would see him soon, V” She paused. “He could have called anyone, anyone in this world but he chose me, I was the only person he said goodbye to”  
Veronica always saw it, she always knew that Betty and Jughead had a special connection, that they were meant to be together, that they were each other’s soulmates. She always looked up to their relationship and wanted the same for herself and Archie. So, hearing those words broke her heart and she couldn’t help but start crying too.  
V: “This is just so unfair. Why would god do that? First destine two people for one another and then rip them apart before their story even began. It just doesn’t make any sense”  
B: “You think we are destined for each other?”  
V: “Absolutely” 

Betty laid her head down on Veronicas shoulder.

V: “You know, I was raised to believe in god and I never doubted that, but if he really does that right now, take him away from you then I don’t know if I can still believe in him”  
B: “If he did that, he wouldn’t only take his life, V, he would take mine too. I don’t think I could ever be happy again. He wouldn’t only take my boyfriend, he would take my whole future because I don’t want a future without him. When I picture my life in a couple of years, I don’t know what it is going to look like but what I know is that he is by my side”

They both stayed silent and just sat there on the stairs and thought.

V: “I didn’t give up on him yet Betty. I don’t know what it is, but something tells me that he wouldn’t do that, he just can’t” ´  
B: “Let´s hope you’re right V”

Betty and Veronica sat there for a while before Betty realized something, she realized that Cheryl and Toni haven’t been there anymore since she woke up.

B: “Veronica where are Cheryl and Toni?”  
V: “Oh, they left right before you woke up. There was something with the serpents and Toni wanted to take care of it”  
B: “Should we call them and tell them about Jug?”  
V: “Yeah that’s a good Idea, but let’s go inside it´s getting cold”

As the girls went in, Archie already walked towards them. He searched for them because he wanted to clear the air between Betty and FP.

A: “Hey, are you two okay?”

They both nodded.

A: “Betty I was looking for you, I just wanted to say that FP didn’t mean it like that. He is just a little overwhelmed and…” 

Betty interrupted him, she already forgot about her disagreement with FP. She wouldn’t take anything back that she said but she was still a little bit sorry for being so harsh.

B: “Of course he didn’t, I´ll go and talk to him but I want to call Toni first and update her about Jug”  
A: “Sure and ask her about how her plan is going”  
B: “What plan?”  
A: “She said something about a plan she had about how to get revenge on Penny and the Ghoulies”

Betty already totally forgot about that with everything that was going on. She wanted revenge, but she hoped that Toni and the serpents didn’t do something dumb. Her first intention was that she wanted to see them dead for what they did to Jughead but deep on the inside she knew that this wasn’t the right way. Just because Penny and the Ghoulies are cruel people, that doesn’t mean that they have to turn into cruel people as well. They shouldn’t be influenced by bad actions of bad people, even if its hard, but they should rather listen to their heart and be the smarter ones. These people will pay, and they will suffer but in a different way. That’s how Jughead would want it and Betty hoped that Toni and the serpents felt the same way. It turned out they actually did. Betty called Toni and told her about the not so good news about Jughead, she asked Toni about her plan and shared her thoughts about it and Toni surprisingly agreed

T: “I totally agree with you Betty. I promise we won’t do something stupid but I can’t explain the details now, I don’t have much time”  
B: “Okay I understand, just be careful”  
T: “We will. Keep me updated about Jughead”  
B: “I will”  
T: “And Betty… he will wake up. Never lose hope”  
B: “I won’t”

Then Toni hung up. Thanks to her conversation with Veronica, Betty had some hope and trust again despite the bad news about Jugheads condition. Now she wanted to find FP. Alice and FP weren’t in the waiting room, so they figured they had to be in the room that they got earlier and so was it. When they entered the room, Betty didn’t hesitate for long.

B: “Mister Jones I’m sorry that I was being so harsh earlier, I shouldn’t have said those things”  
FP: “No Betty you don’t have to apologize at all, everything you said was right”  
B: “I understand that it is hard to stay positive, but we just have to, for him. And I know that you are just really worried and scared, I mean he is your son”  
“Aren’t we all worried and scared?” FP said and gave Betty a little smile. 

Then it unexpectedly knocked at the door and a doctor came in. All at once Betty felt like all the confidence she just had gained was gone again, she reached for Veronicas hand and hold it tightly. Veronica now had Betty on the one and Archie on the other hand as they were just about to find out how the fourth missing hand out of their group was. 

Doctor: “Are you here for Mister Jughead Jones?”  
“Yes, we are” Alice answered.  
Doctor: “So I’m here to inform you about his condition, I’m glad to say that he is alive and out of surgery”  
Everyone was relieved by these words and Betty felt like a lot of weight fell off her shoulders.  
Doctor: “The surgery was more complicated than we thought but we were able to get everything under control. Mister Jones is now in the ICU and stable so far, but we had to put him into an artificial coma to prevent any more brain swelling and he still isn’t breathing by his own”  
“And when is he going to wake up?” Archie asked concerned  
Doctor: “We don’t know yet, it could be hours, but it could also need days or weeks that’s different with every patient”  
“What about the brain swelling, was his brain damaged from that?” Veronica wanted to know  
Doctor: “We don’t know about that either, we will only be able to know when he wakes up”  
Archie got kind of angry “Well do you know anything?!”  
“Archie I’m sure they are doing everything they can to help Jughead” Veronica tried to calm him down  
Doctor: “Your friend is alive that’s most important for now, it could have easily ended differently considering how serious his injuries are”

Betty had enough she just wanted to be with Jughead now.

B: “Can we see him?”  
Doctor: “Yes but only one of you, he needs rest right now”

Obviously, the decision was again between FP and Betty and once again FP didn’t hesitate and let Betty be with him. It was for the same reasons he let her drive with him in the ambulance, because Jughead loved no one more than Betty and she gave him strength. Plain and simple. The doctor asked Betty to follow him and she did, on the way to the ICU he explained a couple things to her and tried to calm her down because he noticed that she was shaking and very scared.

 

Doctor: “So he is your boyfriend?”  
B: “Yes”  
Doctor: “What’s your name young lady?”  
B: “Betty”  
Doctor: “Okay Betty, so you should prepare yourself because Jughead doesn’t look very good at the moment and it might be a little scary. He is connected to a lot of machines with many cables that are for example monitoring his heartbeat or his brain activity and they all make loud, weird noises.

They kept walking down the hallways.

“As I already said he isn’t breathing by his own, so he is intubated and has a tube in his throat, it looks very uncomfortable, but I promise it doesn’t hurt him. He also has a tube at the side of his chest that allows the liquid at his lungs to flow out and he has a lot of nasty cuts and bruises.

Betty needed a moment before she was able to process all this information, but it only prepared her little for what she was about to see when she would go through the door that was right in front of her now.

Doctor: “Are you ready?”  
B: “Yes I think so”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I would be happy about comments since I love exchanging thoughts and ideas with you!  
> Next chapter will come really soon xx


	4. The price of your greed Is your son and your daughter What you gon' do When there's blood in the water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next part!!!

The first thing Betty noticed when she stepped into the room was the smell. It was the typical hospital smell of disinfectant, Betty had already smelled it the whole time but in there she felt like it was much stronger. Probably because in the ICU they must keep everything strictly sterile since the patients have a higher risk to fall ill. The Doctor walked first, and Betty was right behind him, when they stepped into the room they had to make a right to finally see Jughead. He was lying in this hospital bed with what seemed to be thousands of cables being connected to him. Even though the doctor told her before, Betty was shocked by this sight. 

“Oh my god” she whispered with a shaky voice and made a step backwards. She crossed her hands in front of her mouth as tears started to fill up in her eyes. He looked so incredibly fragile, like the slightest touch could hurt him even more. The plain white of the hospital bed and the blankets emphasized the bruises all over his body even more, it looked like you could exactly tell where he got kicked or beaten and how hard because the bruises had lots of different colours, some were more greenish blue whereas others were already purple. He was almost unrecognizable, but his beautiful raven black hair was still the same and his hands that Betty loved to hold so much were still his hands and also the moles on the side of his face were still there. Betty always felt very comfortable and safe when she was around Jughead, he was her protector, he always gave her strength. When she thought about the place where she felt the safest then it was in Jugheads arms, and never in her life could she have imagined that he could look so vulnerable. Betty always wanted to protect him the way he protected her, the worst thing she could have thought of was him getting hurt, that’s what she was always most afraid of, and now that it happened, she felt like she failed, like she was useless. 

Doctor: “It´s okay, I know it looks horrible”  
Betty sobbed “Is he in pain?”  
Doctor: “No, not right now” 

Betty still stood there and looked at him from the distance, she was afraid, afraid to move, afraid to touch him, she didn’t know what to do. Jughead looked like he could still die any second, like in the next moment one of the monitors would start making alarming noises telling that his heart stopped beating, telling that he was dead. Betty knew the doctor said he would wake up, but it was really hard to believe because the way he looked said something different.

Doctor: “You can step closer if you want, you can hold his hand or talk to him” the doctor noticed how terrified Betty was and tried to comfort her as much as he could.  
Betty made a little step forward “Can he hear me?”  
Doctor: “It’s not completely safe to say but yes he probably can” then he put a chair next to Jugheads bed and made waving motions to symbolize that Betty should sit down there “It often helps coma-patients when they hear familiar voices and when they feel like someone is with them”

Betty sat into the chair and looked at Jughead.

“You can hold his hand, it really doesn’t hurt him if that’s what you are afraid of” the doctor said with a calm voice.

And then Betty finally took his hand, she held it with so much caution and gentleness but yet so tight. Touching him set something off inside of her and she suddenly felt a lot of gladness and gratitude besides the bad feelings, in this moment she knew that she would never take the time with him for granted ever again. Betty started sobbing really badly but this time not completely because of sadness, this time there was a hint of happiness behind the tears.

B: “Hey Juggie, it’s me, I’m here, you are not alone” she let her fingertips slide over his hand “I don’t know if you can hear me, but… I love you, I love you so much Jughead”   
Doctor: “I leave you alone for a while” It was heart-breaking to watch them even for an experienced doctor like him.  
“Thank you” Betty answered softly.

It was very quiet in that room, there were only the beeping noises of the machines and nothing apart from that. Betty just looked at Jughead for a while and held his hand. She watched his chest going up and down and it calmed her because it meant that Jughead was breathing, maybe not by his own yet, but he had air in his lungs and that meant that he was alive.

 

“You need to wake up Jug”

“Please come back to me”

“Our story is not over do you hear me? It’s just beginning”

“I need you”

“I can’t live without you”

“Everyone is waiting for you out there, your dad is here and Archie and even my mom and Veronica. Everyone is so concerned about you”

Silence. Tears fell down Betty´s cheeks. One fell on Jugheads hand, she wiped it away and kissed his hand. It reminded her of the moment when they sat at pop´s after Jughead´s abortive birthday party and she showed him the scars at her palms for the first time. She remembered how he put his hands around hers and kissed them, she remembered how secure she felt, and it hurt even more. 

“I am so sorry Jug, I wish I could have protected you” 

“I wish I could help you”

“But I am there for you, always”

“I promise”

“Please just open your eyes and come back to me”

“Please”

Suddenly it knocked at the door and the doctor came back in alongside with a nurse.  
Doctor: “I’m sorry but we need to check on him now”

Betty knew that it was time for her to go but she didn’t want to, she just got him back and she didn’t want to leave him again, she was not ready for it.

B: “Well I could just wait in here until you are finished I won´t bother you I promise”  
Doctor: “I am really sorry, but you shouldn’t see this, and he needs to rest anyway. You can come back tomorrow”  
B: “But I can’t leave him alone, he must be scared and… and”

The nurse noticed how scared Betty was and went over to her.  
Nurse: “I know you are scared darling, but you really don’t have to be. He will not be alone, I will check on him every 30 minutes and the doctors and I will do everything we can to help him okay?”

There was something about this nurse that was kind of sympathetic to Betty and that really soothed her. The nurse was quite short, had grey hair which she put in a bun and she was probably in her mid-fifties. She was very kind and somehow Betty trusted her.

B: “Is it really necessary?”  
Nurse: “Unfortunately it is, sweetheart”  
B: “Okay”

Before she left, Betty turned to Jughead to give him a gentle kiss on the cheek, she stroked through his hair, and whispered in his ear “I love you” 

 

The nurse accompanied Betty out of the room.  
Nurse: “So what’s your name sweetheart?”  
B: “Betty, Betty Cooper”  
Nurse: “It´s nice to meet you Betty my name is Hilda. Let me guess, he is your boyfriend, right? Betty nodded “Well I promise to keep an eye on him for you, you can be sure that he is in the best hands”

Tears came to Betty´s eyes, she didn’t exactly know why but it really touched her that Hilda was so kind to her and she was just grateful that Jughead wasn’t alone.

“Hey sweetheart don’t” Hilda said and gave Betty a hug “Don’t cry he is going to be fine! Listen, visit time is tomorrow at 1:00 PM so they actually won´t let you in earlier but I’m here the whole time, so you can come tomorrow at 10 AM or so and just ask for me at the information, I will smuggle you in okay?”  
Betty was so grateful “Thank you so much”   
Hilda: “But promise me you will get some sleep, alright?”

Betty nodded, wiped her tears away, and then she left to go back to the others who were already impatiently waiting for Betty to return. Before she went into the room with the others, she took a deep breath, she wanted to be strong now, she didn’t want to cry in front of them anymore especially not right now because then they would be worried again and might think of the worst, Betty just didn’t want to scare them again. Then she stepped into the room and stood in front of four concerned faces and every single one of them was waiting for Betty to tell how Jughead was.

“Betty finally, so, how is he?” Veronica said hastily 

Betty didn’t know what to say, what was she supposed to do? Should she tell them that everything was alright? Which was certainly not the truth. Or should she tell them how horrible he looked? That his whole body was littered with cuts and bruises, that he looked like a picture of misery and that only the machines kept him alive? Betty thought that if she was in their position she would have wanted to know the truth, so she decided to tell them the truth, a bended into shape form of the truth just without the terrifying details. She knew that tomorrow or the next couple days at the latest they would see him by themselves anyway, but she wanted to give them at least this night to rest, this one night without having these pictures in their minds. 

B: “The doctor said he will wake up… but he doesn’t look very good”  
“What do you mean?” Archie said  
B: “Well he is very weak and he doesn’t breath by his own, you know, he has this tube in his throat and … it just really looks not good” Betty stuttered a little, so she paused and took a deep breath again “They didn’t let me be with him for too long but I told him that you were here, that he is not alone”  
“You talked to him?” FP said with a calm and kind of quiet voice. Betty could see that he was very exhausted and frustrated, so she tried to bring up something positive  
“Yes, I talked to him, the doctor said I should, it might help him. He also said that we could come and see him tomorrow, visiting time starts at 1:00 PM” She lifted her head up and tried to look as convinced as she could “He will be okay” 

 

They all kept sitting there for a while until they decided that it was for the best if they went home to get some sleep, it was 6:30 AM now so it was senseless to wait there for 6 more hours until they would let them see Jughead, it was senseless for everyone but for Betty. First to start heading home were Archie and Veronica, then Alice convinced FP to go too and lastly there were Betty and Alice left. Betty didn’t want to leave, a part of her wasn’t convinced yet that Jughead was really going to wake up, she was still scared that something could happen and if something happened that she wouldn’t be there. That Jughead would die alone and that she wouldn’t have the chance to say goodbye, those were her biggest fears. Alice noticed how concerned and pensive her daughter was and it broke her heart. She never wanted that her precious little girl had to go through something like this, she always wanted a good working family and a safe environment for her children but now everything backfired. Now they had to deal with their father being a serial killer and Betty had to deal with violent gangs who almost took the love of her life away from her.

Alice: “Honey we should maybe go home too”  
B: “No, just let me be here a little longer, I can’t go home mom”  
Alice: “Betty I know that this is really hard for you, but you should still try to get some sleep, besides do you really think that this is what Jughead would want?”  
B: “Well, but Jughead isn’t here to tell what he would want mom, that’s the problem” Betty knew that her mom was only trying to help, and she didn’t want to be rude to her, but she couldn’t stop it. She wasn’t specifically mad at her mom, she was mad at everything, at the whole world and she needed to let her anger out.  
B: “I’m sorry mom I didn’t mean it like that, it is just so unfair you know, what did Jughead do to deserve something like this? Why do bad things always happen to good people? Jughead is the purest soul I know, he is such a good person, of course he makes mistakes like we all do but if someone deserved this than it would be someone else. Someone who I thought I had known but I was wrong…”  
Alice: “Betty don’t say that no one deserves something like this”  
B: “Oh really? So, you think a man who murdered innocent men, women AND children doesn’t deserve this? You think a man who shoots people and threatens his own daughter and wife doesn’t deserve this? Don’t try to protect him mom it´s useless”  
Alice didn’t know how to answer, she neither agreed nor disagreed with her daughter so she just didn’t respond. They were both silent for a while, they sat there without giving each other a look.  
Alice: “Look Elizabeth I know you are scared and believe me or not I’m really sorry for what happened to Jughead, I really am, but I am still your mother and I’m trying to protect you. So, shout at me, insult me, whatever I don’t care, but you are coming home with me now, you are terrified, you are scared, and you are hurt, and I will be there for you, do you hear me?”

Betty tried to hold up her strong facade, but she couldn’t, she knew that her mom was right. And that was the moment when Betty couldn’t hold back her feelings and emotions anymore, she fell into her mother’s arms and cried.

“I don’t want to lose him mom” Betty whimpered   
Alice: “I know honey, I know”

They went home and arrived at an empty house, there was no Hal, no Polly and no Chick, they were alone. Neither Betty nor Alice wanted to sleep alone in their lonely rooms, so they slept together in Alice´s and Hal´s former marriage bed. Not to be alone and being close to her mom made Betty feel a bit more comfortable, but it still didn’t help much because she couldn’t sleep anyway. She had these horrible pictures in her head, of how they found Jughead covered in blood and not breathing, of how she thought she had lost him in the ambulance and of how fragile he looked in this hospital bed. She had these pictures in her mind no matter if she was awake or if she slept. She really tried to sleep but every time she just fell asleep, she woke up 30 minutes later due to a nightmare or just because she felt miserable and she wanted to go back to the hospital as soon as she could, just like the Nurse, Hilda, told her. Hilda promised Betty to keep an eye on Jughead and she did. She worked in this Job for a long time already, she was a nurse since she was 20 years old, and in this time, she has experienced a lot, she had many patients and she saw many of them die. The toughest cases for her were the ones with very young patients though, cases like Jughead´s, so his story was dear to her heart, especially because he kind of reminded her at her own son. She knew that she wasn’t supposed to take her cases too personally, but she couldn’t help it. She talked to the doctor and asked him about what happened to Jughead, why he was so badly injured, and the doctor told her that he got beaten up by a gang, but he didn’t know much more himself. When she was ready with her round through the patient´s rooms she took some time to sit with Jughead. She first checked on him per usual and then sat down in the chair next to him, she looked at him for a while and thought about how it was even possible to do something like this to another person. In this moment she decided that she wouldn’t just keep an eye on him today, but that she would take some extra care of him as long as it was needed. She took his hand and started talking to him.

“Hey Jughead, my name is Hilda. Don’t worry kiddo I will take care of you”  
“I saw your girlfriend today, she is very beautiful, you have a good taste, I have to say” she laughed softly.  
“All of this must be very scary for you”  
“You know we are doing everything we can to help you, but eventually it´s on you. You have to fight, I know it’s hard, but do it for her”  
“She needs you and she is really worried about you. It´s rare nowadays but I could see that she genuinely loves you”  
“Trust me it´s worth it to come back”   
“I know you are strong enough, you made it till here, that’s almost a little miracle”

Suddenly Hilda´s pager beeped, which meant she had to go.   
“I´ll be back in about an hour kiddo, don’t do something stupid, understood?” she said with a little smile before she went out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading! Also what do you think about Hilda? I really like her and I wanted to create a character who would be like a reference person for Betty but also later for Jughead. She is also kind of like the missing mother figure for Jug, who I think he needs and deserves.   
> As always, feel free to leave a comment, it makes me really happy everytime xx


	5. It´s a very mad world

Betty stared at the clock for hours, no matter how hard she tried she just couldn’t sleep, it was like she was trapped in a nightmare, probably because she really was. The horrible pictures that she had in her mind when she slept were the same that she had when she was awake, because in fact, it was the reality, all these pictures weren’t just a bad dream, they really happened. Jughead really called her to say goodbye for good, he got beaten up, he died in front of her eyes in an ambulance, he came back again, and he is really lying in a hospital bed fighting for his life. As Betty thought about that, she felt kind of stupid, laying in this cozy bed like nothing happened, like she didn’t just go through hell, like Jughead didn’t just go through hell and like he still isn’t going through hell. She thought about that if the ambulance had come only a little bit later Jughead most likely wouldn’t be in this world anymore, she thought about what that would have done to her and she fastly concluded that this wouldn’t only have been the end of Jughead´s life but also the end of her life. Because she loved him more than herself, more than anything in this world, and a life without him wouldn’t be a life worth living. She thought that if she had the opportunity to choose between him or herself to lay in this hospital bed, she wouldn’t even hesitate for a second and choose herself, she would take all the pain, main thing is that he is okay, but she couldn’t, she couldn’t choose. Everything she could do was to watch him suffer and it was horrible. It was something she would never forget in her life. 

Time passed by and Betty thought that she had finally laid in this bed for long enough to go back to the hospital, she laid there long enough so that Hilda wouldn’t send her back home. So, Betty got up, brushed her teeth and put on some fresh clothes, all very silent so she wouldn’t wake up her mom. Instead of her signature ponytail she just put her hair into a messy bun, simply because it was faster, and she absolutely didn’t care about her makeup, she generally didn’t care about how she looked since she had other, way more important priorities now. Betty didn’t want to ask her mother to drive her, so she just walked to the hospital, she walked about 20 minutes when she finally arrived. For some reason she was kind of nervous, nervous to see Jughead but also nervous because she didn’t know if Hilda´s plan would really work, since she wasn’t allowed to visit him yet. But she couldn’t wait any longer, she had to go in there and see him, touch him, to convince herself that he was okay even though “okay” was the wrong word. She stepped into the hospital and the further she went, the more she could smell this scent of disinfectant again and deep down inside she knew that she would probably smell this everyday for a long time now. She went to the information just like Hilda told her. There were two nurses sitting there, a brown-haired one and a blonde-haired one, the blonde-haired was busy talking to someone else so she went over to the brown-haired, she looked friendly Betty thought, or maybe Betty just hoped that she was friendly. 

“Good morning, my name is Betty Cooper, I have an appointment with one of your nurses, Hilda” Betty tried to sound as convincing as she could  
Nurse: “Good morning, well let me just see in the computer” She searched for the appointment in her computer, but she couldn’t find it, obviously “I´m sorry miss Cooper but your appointment is not registered”  
Betty´s nervousness increased “Oh there might be a mistake then, could you just call her and tell her to come? She will recognize me”  
Nurse: “Well okay, but this is an exception” 

The Nurse called Hilda and not even five minutes later she was there, when she walked around the corner and saw Betty, her facial expression immediately changed, and she gave Betty this certain look, this “I got you” kind of look.  
She talked to the nurse “Why did you call me?”  
Nurse: “This young lady says she has an appointment with you, but she´s nor registered in the computer"  
Hilda: “Oh yes Betty Cooper, hello darling, of course we have an appointment there must have been a mistake” She gently put her hand on Betty´s arm to symbolize that she knows her “We will actually have an appointment every morning now at about this time, you can directly register that in your computer, so that there won´t be any mistakes again”  
The nurse was a little bit perplexed “Uhm okay, what kind of appointments are these going to be?”  
Hilda: “She is my new intern!” Hilda laughed  
Nurse: “Oh okay that makes sense” she laughed a bit “I will register that immediately, I am sorry, but there was a lot going on here the last couple of days with the riots and all, you know”

Betty smiled, she started liking Hilda more and more “Of course, no problem”

Then they turned away and walked around the corner to where Hilda came from, to the ICU, to where Jughead was.

Hilda: “Are you a little bit better sweetheart? Were you able to sleep a bit?”  
Betty: “No not really to be honest, I had all these pictures and thoughts in my mind that kept me awake”  
Hilda: “Yes I understand, but just so that you know, I was with him at night and I will be the next time, so when you have processed all of this you can sleep without having to worry too much okay?”  
Betty just nodded “How is he though?”  
“Well nothing has really changed, he is still in a coma and not able to breathe by his own, his vital signs are stable, but I wish they were better, and the brain activity is constant” Hilda said, even though she wished she could have told Betty something better

Betty needed a moment to proceed this information “So is that good or bad? I mean at least it´s good that his condition didn’t get worse right?”

Hilda: “Right. But it still could be better than this, I´m not going to lie”

Betty: “So other patients have already been better at this point?”

Hilda: “Yes kind of, but you can´t really compare that because everyone is individual, and everyone heals differently. I just hoped that because he is so young and because before this he was healthy, he would get better faster, that there would be at least a little more brain activity, but we will see what happens when you talk to him. The doctor probably already told you that familiar voices and especially those of the people who the patient loves, can help”

“Yes, he told me” Betty said with kind of a sad voice. Hearing this felt like a setback, but she still had the hope that her presence would help him, maybe that was the one thing that she could really do to help him, just be there. They stood in front of his room´s door, on the one hand Betty wanted to rush in there as fast as she could but on the other she was afraid, because seeing him made this whole thing real, and she knew that her feelings were most probably going to overwhelm her again. Both Betty and Hilda went into the room but none of them had expected to see what they saw, they saw nothing. Jughead was gone. At first Betty thought they might be in the wrong room, but they weren’t, she started getting nervous and the confused look on Hilda´s face didn’t make it better. 

Betty: “WHERE IS HE?!”

Hilda: “Calm down sweetheart, don’t worry, I don’t know where he is, but I will find out”

“What do you mean you don’t know? So, something unexpected happened? Do you think there were any complications?” Betty said hastily and with a concerned voice.  
A thousand thoughts shot into her head, she thought of some scenarios, some bad scenarios. Hilda took a phone out of the pocket of her nurse-smock and called someone.

“Hey, here´s Hilda, I am in the ICU in Jughead Jones´ room, but he is nowhere to be found, do you know where he is?... Oh okay…alright…okay, thank you” Hilda looked at Betty “Everything is okay, they brought him up to make a CT-scan which means they are checking on his brain. The doctor was worried about the low brain activity as well and he just wanted to make sure that there´s no bleeding”

Betty didn’t know if she was supposed to be happy or sad, she just wanted to see Jughead now. They stood in the room, Hilda trying to calm Betty, when about ten minutes later the door opened, and they brought him back in. It was the doctor and three others, probably interns, it needed so many people to move the bed because of all the machines that needed to be transported alongside. Betty rushed to his side, “Oh my god, Jug” she whispered, and tears started streaming down her face, without her even noticing. She gently stroked his cheek and through his hair and breathed heavily. The interns left the room, but the doctor stayed.

Doctor: “Betty what are you doing here so early?”  
Hilda: “I allowed her to come” Hilda gave the doctor a wink “She is my new intern, you know”  
The doctor immediately understood and winked back. Betty didn’t really give them attention, she was too focused on Jughead.  
Hilda: “So how was the CT?”  
Doctor: “according to the circumstances, it was okay. At least there is no bleeding, that’s most important”  
Hilda: “At least something”  
Doctor: “Yes but nonetheless we cannot exclude other brain damage, and that makes me worried. We will do some more tests later, maybe they are more revealing”  
Betty´s attention was drawn to the conversation now “What kind of brain damage could be there, and what would that mean for him?”  
Doctor: “A lot is possible, it can go from memory loss to extensive damage which would mean that he could be disabled, mentally as well as physically”  
Betty was shocked “That means he could wake up as a completely different person?”  
Doctor: “Yes, but that is the worst-case scenario”  
“It is very unlikely, and we don´t assume this right now, right?” Hilda interrupted  
Doctor: “Right. We can´t say anything for sure yet. We will know more later, after the tests” he looked at Betty “Keep your head up, it's going to be okay” Then he left.

Betty didn’t know what to do, she was confused and sad and scared and her head felt like it would explode every second. She walked around the room, back and forth, got herself the chair, put it next to Jughead´s bed, walked to the sink to wash her hands, walked back to the chair and stopped. She stood there, leaned her hands on the back of the chair with her head down and her eyes closed, and she breathed, in and out. Hilda watched her, she felt so incredibly sorry for Betty and she wished she could do something to help her, it broke her heart to see such a young girl suffering so much, she knew that it was too much for Betty to handle. She made a step towards Betty.

“I am so sorry Sweetheart, I know it´s terrible” 

Betty still left her eyes closed and breathed, she was trying to keep pulling herself together.

“I am here if you want to talk about it, you don’t have to keep all of this inside of you”

Betty tried to stay strong, but she couldn’t. She started crying and sobbing very loudly and very hysterically, her chest felt like it burned, so she hold her chest with the one hand and with the other she covered her face, she was about to sink to the floor when Hilda catched her and hold her in her arms.

“I can´t… I can´t lose him” Betty cried 

“I know Sweetheart, I know” Hilda said, holding her tight and stroking her back

“I love him… I love him so much, I…I need him…I”

“Shhh, I know, it´s okay, and he knows too”

“I just want him to be okay, I don’t want him to be in pain, I want him back” she whispered crying

Hilda didn’t say anything, she just hold her, now she was the one who had to pull herself together so that she wouldn’t start crying. They stayed like this for some time until Betty had settled down, her legs were still a little bit shaky, so Hilda helped her to sit down next to Jughead, Betty took his hand, it was warm and soft, she kissed it.

“I love you Jughead” she cried “Please just open your eyes Juggie, I miss your eyes”

She just kept holding his hand silently. 

Hilda: “Is it okay if I leave you alone for a bit? Or do you want me to stay?”  
“It´s okay” Betty whispered 

She just sat there, next to him, held his hand, stroked his cheek, looked at him, all without saying a word, but never did she let go of his hand. She sat there like this for almost an hour before she noticed something. How didn’t she notice this before, she thought. He looked different. Besides the big tube in his throat, all the cables and other small tubes all over his body, there was something else that was different. It was his hair, she stroked through his hair, that shouldn’t be possible, usually it isn’t possible, because usually he wears a beanie on his head. His beanie, it´s gone. Before he headed himself over to Penny and the Ghoulies, he called Betty to say goodbye, for good, so as horrible as it sounds, he was ready to die and why would he want to die without his beanie? Betty thought. He must have worn it and of course FP didn’t care about it when he found his son unconscious and covered in blood, actually that was the last thing he would care about. So, it must be still there, in the woods where they found Jughead. Betty needed to find it. It was important for him and he would need it when he wakes up. He would feel uncomfortable without it. He needed it, and in some kind of way, Betty needed it too, because it gave her hope. 

“Jug I will find your beanie, don’t worry, I´ll be back, I love you”

Then she took her stuff and almost ran out of the room. She went out of the hospital and walked back home, on the way she tried to call Archie so that he would help her search for the Beanie, but he didn’t pick up the phone, so when she finally arrived in their neighbourhood, she just rang at his door. Fred opened, and looked at Betty with kind of a puzzled look.

Fred: “Hey Betty, how are you? I didn’t expect you here”  
Betty: “Hello Mr. Andrews, Yes, I´m fine, uhm actually I´m not fine, but that doesn’t matter… Is Archie home?”  
Fred: “Yes, he is in his room”  
Betty: “Can I go up to him?”  
Fred: “Uhm… sure, you know where the room is”  
Betty: “Thank you”

Of course, Betty knew where the room was. Betty went up and opened the door without knocking, she was in a hurry and so full of adrenaline, that she didn’t care or even notice that Archie and Veronica were still sleeping. 

“Guys wake up!” Betty almost shouted “We need to go”  
Archie and Veronica, who were still half asleep, jumped up and only opened their eyes with effort.  
Archie: “Betty what are you doing here? Is everything okay?  
Betty: “Yes, No, but you guys need to get up now and help me find Jughead´s beanie, he needs it”  
Veronica: “What? Betty slow down”  
Archie: “What do you mean, he needs it? Did he wake up?”  
Betty: “No he is still in a coma, but I am so dumb, I didn’t notice that his beanie is gone, we need to find it for him, please help me find it for him”  
Veronica: “Of course we will help you B, just let us put on some fresh clothes okay?”

Betty went out of the room to let them put on their clothes. Five minutes later, they came out of the room. 

Betty: “Archie can we take your dad´s car? We need to search where we found Jug”  
Archie: “Yes I think we can take it”

They went outside and sat into the car, before Archie started the engine he took a moment to calm down and to realize that not even ten minutes ago he was still sleeping in his bed and that now, he sat in his dad´s car to drive to the woods to find his best friend´s hat who had life threatening injuries and was laying in a coma. Then he started the engine and started driving. Everybody, especially Betty, calmed down a bit.

Archie: “Okay to start again now, we are driving to where we found Jug, to find his beanie?”  
Betty: “Right, it must be still there"  
Veronica: “Betty, how are you actually feeling”  
Betty: “Not good, but I want to put this aside for a moment and just find my boyfriend´s beanie”  
Archie: “When did you notice that it was gone?”  
Betty: “Just twenty minutes ago, I was with him and then I suddenly noticed”  
Archie: “You were with him? How did they let you in there, visiting time hasn’t even started yet”  
Betty: “Yeah, long story short, there is this super nice nurse who´s helping me and letting me in”  
Archie: “Oh okay, and how is he? did you get any update?”  
Betty: “He is not really good, they said at least he didn’t get worse, but he also didn’t get better. There are no signs telling that he could wake up any time soon and they are worried about his brain, they don’t know yet if it´s damaged or not, but if it is then he might be…” Betty needed to take a deep breath because it hurt, saying this out loud “He might be disabled when he wakes up”  
Archie needed to swallow.  
Veronica: “God damn it, I am so sorry B”  
Betty: “Yeah”  
Veronica: “But we don’t think about that guys, we hope for the best, understood?”  
None of them, neither Betty nor Archie answered.  
“I said understood?” Veronica noticed that Archie tried not to look her in the eyes, of course because he needed to look at the street, but also because he was close to tears. She stroked his back. “It´s okay Archie”  
Archie: “Let´s just find this beanie for him”

About ten minutes later they arrived at the place where they had found Jughead. Archie noticed that at this place, he had seen his best friend for the last time. When Betty stepped out of the car and saw this place again, she shivered from inside out, at this place she had seen the most horrible pictures of her life, at this place the love of her life was almost taken away from her. She was close to tears again, but Veronica noticed and took her in her arms.

Veronica: “It´s okay B, let´s just find his beanie and then never come back again okay?”

Betty nodded. Where they stood was not exactly where FP found him, it was where FP carried him to, so they had to go deeper inside the woods. They went further and further and Betty started to realize how far FP carried Jughead, it must have been horrible. Of course, it is horrible finding your child, looking like this. And then they found it, there was a little path, leading to a treeless area. In the middle of this area there was a fireplace and there also was a small treehouse, it was the Ghoulie´s hideout. They just had to make a couple steps forward to see something they didn’t expect, something that they never wanted to see. Betty felt like she needed to throw up. They were all shocked. There was a certain place on the ground that was covered in blood, it was almost a pool of blood, it was Jughead´s blood. And somewhere in this blood was laying what they searched for, his beanie. Veronica, as sensitive as she was started crying, Archie was just speechless, and Betty turned around and vomited. She didn’t eat something in a while because she had no appetite, but she still vomited, she was disgusted by this sight, she couldn’t believe that Penny and the Ghoulies were cruel enough to just beat him up and leave him there in his blood to die. 

Archie was worried about Betty “Hey Betty are you okay?”  
Betty: “Yeah it´s okay, just give me a moment” 

Then he took Veronica in his arms and they all just stood there for a minute. When Betty was ready, she turned around and took a deep breath.  
Betty: “Let´s just take his beanie and get away from here”

Betty couldn’t believe that she was doing this, but she took Jughead´s beanie out of the blood with her bare hands and then they went back to the car. On the drive back home, no one said a thing, they all had the same thoughts and they knew it, so nobody felt the need to say it out loud. They stopped at the cooper´s house and Betty put the beanie into the washing machine, her mother wasn´t home and she didn’t call her or even send her a message, Betty thought she might be with FP, and she didn’t call her because she knew exactly where her daughter was, there was no need to ask. Right after that, the three drove straight to the hospital, it was officially visiting time now, so Archie and Veronica would be allowed to see Jughead as well. When they stood in front of the door of Jughead´s room, Betty stopped them. She wanted to prepare them for what they were going to see at least a little bit, even though she knew that eventually it wasn’t really helpful, seeing Jughead like this will be a shock for them just as it was for her.

Betty: “You need to mentally prepare yourselves before you go in there, Jughead looks bad, really bad, and you will probably never forget this sight”  
Archie: “I can handle it”  
Betty: “No Archie you don’t. You absolutely don’t. I know you are acting strong, but in there is your best friend and he looks like a picture of misery, he is almost unrecognizable” Tears started to fill her eyes “When I walked in there for the first time, I was afraid to touch him, afraid to even come close to him. It will hit you like a punch in the face and it will hurt, there are like a thousand machines around him and cables and tubes all over his body, he is only alive because of these machines, it´s terrifying”  
It hurt Veronica to see Betty like this and to hear her say something like this “Betty…”  
Betty: “It is okay V, just know that you both can let your emotions out, don’t try to hide them it´s useless, you know I am talking to you Archie”

Archie just nodded, Veronica nodded too. And then they stepped in. Betty was right. Archie couldn’t handle it, he started crying immediately and so did Veronica. 

Veronica: “Oh my god, Jughead”  
Betty couldn’t help it but start crying too, she hugged Archie and started talking to Jughead.  
Betty: “Hey Juggie, Archie and Veronica are here to see you”  
Veronica: “Hey Jughead, it´s Veronica. Please get better soon okay? We are not complete without you and our table at Pop´s is waiting for us”  
Betty saw that it was really hard for Archie “Arch, do you want to sit down next to him?”  
Archie nodded. He sat down in the chair, and put his hand on Jughead´s.  
Archie: “Hey bro… you really messed up, you know that right?... Just know that I miss you and I’m sorry. I haven’t been a good friend to you lately and I really regret it… I´m so sorry Jug. You are my brother. You always will be. And I promise that I will be a better brother, just please… wake up” 

 

Just a couple minutes later, the door opened, and FP walked in. He looked like he didn’t get any warning.  
FP: “Jug…what the hell”  
Betty: “Mister Jones”  
FP: “Betty… are you okay?”  
Betty: “Yes, uhm, you probably want to be alone with him for a while”  
Veronica: “Come on Archie, let´s give mister Jones some time”

Archie stood up and as he walked past FP, they gave each other a hug, without saying anything. Then they went out of the room. Outside, Alice was waiting, it was like Betty thought, she was with FP and drove with him to the hospital. Betty gave her mother a hug, they asked each other if they were okay and then they all sat down around the corner in some chairs. It was silent. Nobody said something. After some time, the doctor and Hilda came around the corner, they were on their way to Jughead. 

Doctor: “I suppose you are here for Jughead?”  
Alice: “Yes, is there something new?”  
Doctor: “We wanted to do some tests now and hopefully we will know more afterwards”  
Hilda: “Is someone in the room?”  
Betty: “Yes his father is in there”  
Hilda: “Oh okay”

Knowing that FP was in the room, Hilda knocked and opened the door slowly.  
Hilda: “Mister Jones? hi, my name is Hilda I am your son´s nurse. I am sorry for bothering you, but we would like to do some tests with Jughead now, to find out if his brain has taken any damage”  
FP: “Sure”  
Doctor: “You all can stay in here if you want, the tests shouldn’t take too long, hopefully we will be able to tell you more later”

Then they took Jughead with them, and even though Betty knew that he was in good hands, her stomach ached when they left the room with him. She didn’t have much time to think about it though because FP had something to tell, something that they were all very interested at. 

FP: “The doctor may doesn’t have news, but I do. Toni called me about an hour ago. She said that her plan worked out and that we don’t have to worry about Penny and the Ghoulies anymore”  
Betty didn’t expect that to come now “What?”  
Archie: “What does she mean, we don’t have to worry about them anymore?”  
FP: “I don’t know much more either, she didn’t want to tell me through the phone. But she said I should call her when we were all together and she would come over to tell us then”  
Veronica: “Well what are you waiting for then? Call her!”

FP called her and not even fifteen minutes later Toni knocked at the door, but she wasn’t alone Cheryl and Sweet Pea were with her. 

Toni: “Hi Guys, how are you all?... dumb question I know”  
“Hey cousin” Cheryl said and gave Betty a hug  
Toni: “How is Jughead doing?”  
Betty: “Okay, not bad, but also not good”  
Cheryl: “Stay strong Betty”  
Veronica: “Come on, don’t torture us, spill the tea”  
Toni: “Okay, I told you guys about my plan, right? So, I thought we already tried to get rid of this bitch, Penny, once and we tried it with violence. We brought her out of town and cut her serpent tattoo out, but that didn’t prevent her from coming back, it just made everything worse”  
“Yeah I remember” FP interrupted with a judgmental voice  
Toni: “I know it was dumb FP, but however, I then thought we needed to fight her with her own weapons which are threats and extortion. I figured that this would be something that Jughead would do, that he would want, he would think it through very well instead of just attacking and so did I. I knew it was impossible to knock them all out, so we had to take way their source, pull their plug, that meant we only had to knock out Penny and the Ghoulies´ leader, Malachai, because without them the rest would be nothing. Killing them was not an option…”  
Sweet Pea: “Even though I would have preferred that”  
Archie: “Yeah me too, if I think about it”  
“Why did I know that this would come?” Toni smirked “So anyway, to be honest it was way easier than I thought it would be, we made Penny an offer. We said that only she and Malachai would “fight” against our leaders which are FP and Jughead, but because Jughead obviously couldn’t, we said that Sweet Pea would come for him instead. I told her that it was just fair after what they did to Jughead and surprisingly, she agreed. So, they really came alone, just them two and we were about twenty-five, so we waited for the right moment and overpowered them. Since we didn’t want to kill them, we looked for evidence against them and I was not surprised that we found the knife in Penny´s bag that she cut Jughead with, so we took it and brought it to sheriff Keller and told him about what happened. They looked for DNA at the knife and they found Penny´s and Jughead´s, again, no surprise. Sheriff Keller drove to the hospital and had a look at Jughead and talked to the doctor, and he confirmed that Jug´s injuries came from a beating and a knife. We handed Penny and Malachai over to Sheriff Keller and the evidence was so oppressive that they confessed. They are now accused of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm and sheriff Keller assured us, that they would be in Jail for at least twenty years. After finding out about that, the other Ghoulies left the town. In summary, that means that you don’t have to worry about that anymore and Jughead won´t either. He can completely focus on healing when he wakes up”

Everybody was speechless. Betty felt so relieved and grateful because a lot of weight just fell off her shoulders and she could now fully concentrate on Jughead. Tears started to fall down her cheeks and she fell into Toni´s arms and hugged her very tightly.

Betty: “Thank you Toni, thank you so much! You don’t know how much that means to me”  
Toni: “You are welcome, but there is nothing to thank me for. That’s just what serpents do”

Toni, Cheryl and Sweet Pea left shortly after because they didn’t want to disturb, there would just be too many people and Jughead needed some rest now. Only a couple minutes later, the doctor came back with the test results, and it was like all the good feelings that Betty just had were gone, she was just scared again, because what the doctor was going to tell them now would determine about Jughead´s whole life and therefore also about hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it! I am sorry that the reveal of Toni´s plan wasn´t that spectecular, but that was not my priority, I mainly want to focus my story on Jughead and Betty. However, I hope you liked it and I can say that the next chapters are going to be exciting! xx


	6. If only I could hold you

The doctor came alone, they didn’t bring Jughead back in, and Betty tried to figure out whether that was a good or a bad sign. Her legs were shaky, and her heart was beating so fast, that she thought it was going to jump out of her chest. The doctor was calm, he took himself some time before he started talking. For a second everything was completely silent.

“So, as you all know, Jughead´s brain was swollen when he came in here and we got it under control during the surgery. Brain swellings are really dangerous, they can cause damage with fatal consequences and especially combined with bleedings they can be even life threatening. We made a CT-scan of Jughead´s brain this morning and fortunately we were able to exclude any bleedings, we now did some tests to find out if the swelling caused any other damage and the tests have shown that Jughead´s brain has not taken any kind of damage, his brain is healthy.”

While the others jumped, and hugged and screamed of joy, Betty couldn’t believe it. She stood there without any reaction until she had proceeded this information. Jughead´s brain has not taken any kind of damage, that meant he wouldn’t wake up as another person, it meant that it was just a matter of time until he would wake up. Betty knew that she could be happy now, but still not too happy. Jughead would still be traumatized and he still had to go through a lot of pain because of his other injuries. There was a rough time ahead of them, but just for this moment, Betty was happy and grateful. She started crying, but with a little smile on her face. Archie saw it and hugged her. He decided that he would take care of Betty as long as Jughead couldn’t, he knew that Jughead would want him to do it, he would have wanted Jughead to do the same for Veronica if he was in this situation.

Archie: “It´s okay Betty, it´s okay”

“His wounds are getting newly bandaged right now, but they should bring him back in about ten minutes. You can see him for a bit, but he needs some rest afterwards. He is very exhausted, and his body needs to recover from all the stress, so you shouldn’t stay too long”

FP: “Thank you”

The doctor nodded and left the room. A couple minutes later Jughead was brought back in, Hilda was with him. She gave Betty a smile and Betty smiled back. FP, Archie and the others stayed about fifteen minutes until they decided to go home, Alice had to drive FP back home and she would come back to the hospital afterwards to pick Betty up, so that Betty had some time with Jughead alone. Betty enjoyed being with him alone, just holding his hand and talking to him. She didn’t want to do anything else, she didn’t want to go home because when she was at home, the wildest imaginations shot into her head. She imagined what was happening in the hospital at that moment and it was driving her crazy. What if there are any complications? What if he flatlines? What if he wakes up, being alone? But when she was with him, she didn’t have to worry about any of it. There was nothing more reassuring than watching his chest go up and down. Nothing. 

“Hey Juggie, it´s me, it´s only me now”  
“My mom is about to pick me up any minute, but I will come back tomorrow as soon as I can”  
“I just want you to know that every time I let go of your hand, it´s just for a short time, I am not leaving you, I will always come back, always”  
“I don’t even want to go, but they are forcing me to”  
“You are not alone Jug, you don’t have to go through this by your own, no matter how hard it is I will always be by your side”  
“Just promise, that you will come back to me okay?”  
“Nothing could make me happier than you opening your eyes”  
“Please open your eyes, Jug” 

Tears fell down her cheeks. Then it knocked at the door, it was Alice. She stepped into the room, but didn’t say a word, she just waited.

“Jug my mom is here, you know what that means”  
She gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek and whispered “Always”

On the ride home, Alice wanted to talk to Betty because she was concerned about her daughter. She had seen how awful this situation was for Betty, how much she suffered, and it scared her a little. She knew that Betty loved the Jones-boy, but she didn’t know that she loved him so deeply and so unconditionally. She feared that Betty would completely neglect herself or that she would collapse under the pressure, or even worse. Now that Alice saw Jughead, she wasn’t that sure anymore if he would be okay again, she did not show it in the hospital, but she was frightened by Jughead´s look. Who knew if he was really going to wake up, there was no assurance for that, and she didn’t want Betty to go down with him. She was scared that Betty would fall into a depression or god forbid, that she would get suicidal thoughts. Her first thought was, that Betty would get over it someday, but after what she had seen, she wasn’t so sure about that anymore either.

Alice: “So, honey, what is your plan now?”  
Betty: “What do you mean?”  
Alice: “I mean as bad as it sounds, but you still have a life too, what about school for example?”  
Betty: “Well I am sorry that I have other priorities right now, life isn’t just about school mom, there are more important things like the people you love for example, in case you didn’t know”  
Alice: “ of course I know Elizabeth, but I am still worried about you” She gave her daughter a little glimpse “It´s just two weeks until the summer holidays, I can talk to principal Weatherbee and tell him that you will catch up the things you missed at home, if that makes you happy”  
Betty: “That would be great mom, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate anyway”  
Alice: “And other than that? Do I have to expect that you will be at the hospital each and every day now?”  
Betty got kind of angry “YES mom, you have to expect that! What kind of question is that?! If I was in the hospital, would you just visit me every third day or what?”  
Alice: “Of course not, What I am trying to tell you is that you just shouldn’t let that affect your life too much, I still want you to be happy”

Betty was speechless, she started questioning if her mom really knew what love was and what it meant.

Betty: “So I am supposed to hang out with Archie and Veronica, go to pop´s or to the bijou or something, act like everything is okay, while my boyfriend lies in a coma, fighting for his life? Mom are you serious?”  
Alice: “I´m not joking Elizabeth”  
Betty: “I know that you never really liked Jughead, okay, but if you only knew little about me, then you would know that Jughead IS my life. This doesn’t affect my life too much, it affects my life in EVERY WAY, mom. I can´t be happy without him”  
Alice: “Elizabeth…”  
Betty interrupted “No mom, let me tell you something, I don’t trust anyone in this world more than Jughead, there is no one in this world who understands me better than Jughead, there is no place that I feel safer at than in his arms, no one accepts me more than him, no one makes me laugh more than him, no one can calm me down better than him. He is not only my boyfriend, mom, he is also my best friend, my soulmate and the love of my life. He is my person. My significant other. So yes, I will be with him every day, every second of the day if he needs it, I would DIE for him if necessary!”  
Alice had tears in her eyes “See, that’s what I am afraid of Betty! I just don’t want to lose you”  
Betty cried too “You won´t lose me, mom. But I just must be there for him right now, okay?”  
Alice: “Okay”

When they arrived home, Betty went straight into her room and laid down in her bed, she was tired. She had barely slept the last nights, and the days were more than exhausting. She just laid in her bed and looked at the wall, there were photos of her and her mom, her and Veronica, her and Archie and of course there were also photos of her and Jughead. She looked at a photo of her and Jughead cuddling on the sofa at the school lounge, Veronica took the photo with her phone, Betty remembered that day as if it was yesterday. She remembered how secure she felt in Jughead´s arms and how she forgot all the stress that she had at that time, only for this moment. She remembered how embarrassed she was when she saw that Veronica took a picture of them with the comment “You lovebirds are so cute, I can´t help it!”, she hated it at that time, but now that she saw this picture, she was thankful that Veronica captured the moment. The picture made her happy, but also sorrowful, all she wanted to do was to go back to this moment and stay in his arms forever. Betty couldn’t look at the picture any longer, so she turned to the side, she now was looking at her window, it already turned dark outside again. That was when another memory shot into her head, a moment that she would never forget in her life, her and Jughead´s first kiss. How he climbed up to her window calling her “Juliet”, and how gentle he kissed her. It was a beautiful first kiss. All his kisses were beautiful and now Betty regretted that she didn’t appreciate them enough. That she didn’t appreciate him enough. There is this saying, “You only start appreciating things, when they are gone”, it was true. Tears came to her eyes and she laid there for some time when suddenly it knocked at the door and Alice came in with Jughead´s beanie in her hands.

“I thought you might want to have this” She said  
“Oh my god, I totally forgot it”

Betty took the beanie, held it tightly and pressed it to her chest. It was just a beanie, but it meant a lot to Betty, it made her feel better. With this in her hands she somehow felt closer to Jughead, it may sound absurd, but it felt like a piece of him was with her. Alice sat next to her daughter and wiped her tears away. 

“Thank you, mom”  
“You are welcome, honey”

Betty leaned to her mothers’ shoulder and they sat there for some time, just like this, without saying a word, they just enjoyed each other’s company. 

“Do you think I can leave you alone, Elizabeth?”  
“Yes mom, I’m fine”  
“Okay”  
Before Alice left the room, she turned around one last time “Betty?”  
“Yes?”  
“I understand it now. You love him”  
“Thanks mom” Betty smiled  
“I love you”  
“I love you too”

 

It was like the beanie worked wonders. Betty hold the beanie in her hands, almost cuddled with it, and she was able to sleep again that night. Still, she didn’t sleep for too long since she wanted to go back to the hospital as early as she could. Two days have passed by since they found Jughead in the woods, since all of their life’s, especially Betty´s, changed drastically. When Betty arrived at the hospital, Hilda told her that nothing had really changed, there weren’t any signs showing that Jughead would wake up within the next days, but she also told her that this could change any time. It wasn’t something predictable, there was no specific date that could have been named at which he would wake up, it was just a process of waiting and hoping. On one day there might be nothing, no signs, no improvement, and on the other he could just suddenly wake up. Betty hoped that every day was the day, she didn’t think of anything else. Each day she woke up, went to the hospital, came back home, slept or rather lied awake in her bed crying, and repeated this over and over again. It was her new routine, and terrible enough she got used to it. She took Jughead´s beanie with her every day, just in case that he woke up, but disappointingly she went home with it every time. At the first couple of days, Betty noticed that his bruises got worse than they already were, even though she thought that this was impossible, but Hilda explained that bruises always get worse before they can get better. Still what was terrifying her the most, were all the tubes and cables, they just made him look so fragile. He still wasn’t breathing by his own, which was a horrifying thought, but it was normal, considering his injuries, his body was simply too weak for that. Betty talked to him every day, begging him to wake up, to show her his eyes, she missed his eyes so incredibly much, she held his hand, stroked through his hair and she cried. She never thought that she was able to cry so much, but she just couldn’t stop, sometimes it just happened. The nightmares came back. All of them ended with Jughead being dead. One night it was so bad, that she had a panic attack and she couldn’t breathe. Alice didn’t know what to do, she couldn’t calm her daughter down, so she panicked too and ran over to the Andrew´s house and got Archie. Archie did know what to do. He did the same thing he did when Betty had the nightmare in the night they found Jughead, after she woke up when she fainted, he hold her tight so that she didn’t have any space to move, like stuck in a cocoon, and stayed like this until she became calm. With every day that passed, Betty got more and more scared that the day she was waiting for would never arrive, watching Jughead like this was more than horrifying, the pain and fear she felt was indescribable. One day, when Betty was early in the hospital, Hilda had to clean Jughead´s wounds and bandage them, she asked Betty to go out for a walk or to drink a coffee, but Betty insisted to stay in the room. That was the first time that Betty really saw his wounds. Hilda put off Jughead´s shirt so that his upper body was bare and Betty was able to really see what the Penny and the Ghoulies did to her boyfriend. Besides all the smaller bruises, there was a massive dark purple, almost black, hematoma covering his left shoulder, it´s because his shoulder was dislocated, and it was the same thing with his right side where his broken ribs were. As if that wasn’t enough, there were also two literal wholes in his body, one at his side with a tube in it to allow liquid at his lungs to flow out, and one where once his serpent tattoo used to be. The tattoo was completely gone. It was so bad that Betty almost fainted at this sight. Hilda told her that he wouldn’t feel anything now and that was the only time that Betty was happy that Jughead wasn’t awake. She remembered the moment when they found him, and he woke up, she remembered that she cried and that he told her not to because he didn’t like seeing her cry, he must have been in so much pain, but was still concerned about her. Betty couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe how strong and brave he was. It was true. What he told her back then at pop´s was true. He is both, a lover and a fighter. FP also came every day to visit Jughead, sometimes Alice came with him and sometimes he came alone, but Alice helped FP through this difficult time, she was with him every day. On the one hand she did it for FP, because on the inside FP was devastated, FP was living every parent’s worst nightmare, but on the other she also did it because it was distracting her. She didn’t have to think about being married to a serial killer when she was with him. Archie and Veronica came every day too, this time was not only very hard for Archie but also for Veronica. Veronica was really worried about Betty and seeing her and Archie sitting next to Jughead and crying and begging him to wake up was awful, but she was also really worried about Jughead. They clearly didn’t have the very best relationship, but still they were friends and Jughead was part of Veronica´s everyday life. She realized that he was always there without her even noticing, it would never be the same without him, neither their meetings at pop´s nor their couples only trips or their investigations, nothing. A week had passed by and still nothing had changed, the only improvement were the bruises that were starting to heal, like Hilda said. At this point, Betty wasn’t really able to sleep anymore, she got more scared every day that passed, she couldn’t understand why this was happening, why he wasn’t waking up. Probably caused by the lack of sleep, one day Betty went through a literal emotional rollercoaster, when she entered Jughead´s room in the morning, she was just happy to see him alive, at noon, she cried her eyes out and, in the evening, she suddenly became very angry. This was the first time that she got mad at him for what he did, she started yelling at him, things like “WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?! Hm? Ah I know what you were thinking, NOTHING!” “What you did was just dumb and thoughtless Jughead, you aren’t a hero because of this do you know that?” “How could you do this to us Jug? How could you do this to your dad, to Archie, to ME, you can´t just leave me alone” “How were you ready to leave me so easily”. After she was done screaming at her in a coma lying boyfriend, Betty felt bad and apologized, without knowing if he really heard her. Other times, she fell asleep for about thirty minutes when she was in the hospital holding Jughead´s hand, but only then, because then she had the assurance that he was still there, and she knew exactly what was going on. She kept bringing Jughead´s beanie with her everyday and Hilda got curious. When she had a little bit of time, she sat down next to Betty. Hilda was a big help for Betty especially emotionally, Betty was thankful for everything that she had done for her and especially for Jughead and when Hilda asked her about Jughead´s beanie, she realized that this woman didn’t even know Jughead. 

“You are bringing this hat with you every day, is it his?”  
“Yes, it is, normally you wouldn’t actually see him without it” Betty smiled “It´s funny that you met him without it, I´m kind of the only one who knows him like this”  
“He is wearing this hat every single day? Even in summer?” Hilda smiled  
“Yes, he does” They both laughed  
“Betty may I ask you something?”  
“Sure”  
“What did really happen that night? I was thinking about it and it can´t be a coincidence that a gang just decided to beat up a boy within an inch of his life”  
“No, you are right it wasn’t a coincidence” Betty had to take a second before saying the following words “Jughead sacrificed himself”  
Hilda´s eyes widened, she was shocked by these words “Excuse me, he did what? Why?”  
“It is a long story, but basically he did it to protect the people around him, his family, it was either just him or all of them and he didn’t hesitate”  
“Oh lord, I don’t know what to say, but may god bless him”  
Betty didn’t have an answer to this, her faith in god certainly began to decline.  
Hilda saw the sadness in Betty´s eyes “He must be a really nice person”  
“He is. He has the purest soul I know” Tears started to fill up in Betty´s eyes  
“I am so sorry Darling, it must have happened really unexpectedly”  
“It did, but before he went to this place, he called me, and he told me how much he loved me” Betty´s voice cracked, she reached for Jughead´s hand “He said he would see me soon”  
Hilda rubbed Betty´s back “And he will. I can see that he is fighting” Hilda wanted to cheer Betty up a bit “You have picked yourself one very handsome young man”, she smiled.  
Betty couldn’t help but smile too “Yes he is, if only you could see his eyes, god he has such beautiful eyes”  
“What color are they?”

 

“Green” 

 

The two stayed silent for a while, but Hilda had another question  
“Betty, I have only seen his father visit him, what about his mom?”  
Betty didn’t think about that yet, did FP tell Gladys and Jellybean? Would they even care?  
“Yeah it´s because she lives in Toledo with his sister, they don’t really have the best relationship. But you know what? I am going to find out if she knows about this.”

Betty went out of the room to call FP, he told her that he had already tried to inform Gladys, but she never picked up the phone when she saw that it was FP`s number, so he gave Betty the number and Betty called Gladys.

“Yes”  
“Hello? Is this Gladys Jones?”  
“Yes, it is, who are you?”  
“This is Betty Cooper, I´m not sure if you know who I am, but I am Jughead´s girlfriend”  
“He told me about you, why are you calling?”  
“Mister Jones already tried to call you to tell you that…”  
Gladys interrupted “Yeah, tell that piece of shit that he shouldn’t call me anymore”  
“Uhm, well maybe you should answer the phone when he calls you if you care about your son”  
“What do you mean?”  
“He called you because of Jughead, he is in the hospital”  
Gladys voice suddenly changed, and she sounded worried “Jughead is in the hospital? Why? What happened? Is he okay?”  
“He is actually not okay, no, he got beaten up by the Ghoulies, very badly, that was a week ago and he is lying in a coma since then”  
“In a coma? What? For a whole week already? Why did nobody tell me?!”  
“FP tried to tell you”

All of a sudden, there was a voice in the background, it was Jellybean “Is this about Jughead? I knew that something was wrong, I knew it!” and it sounded like she started crying “Mom give me the phone!”

“Dad is that you?”  
“Hi, Jellybean? This is Betty, Jughead´s girlfriend”  
“I know who you are, what happened to my brother?”  
“He got hurt very badly and he is in the hospital”  
“Oh my god, is he going to die? Please tell me he is not dying”  
“He is not, but he is laying in a coma and no one knows when he will wake up”  
Jellybean was crying, Betty didn’t really know what she was supposed to tell a twelve-year-old  
“Hey Jellybean? Listen to me, he will be okay, I know it. I am taking care of him, I promise”  
For a moment, Jellybean didn’t say anything, she was processing what Betty just told her and she was thinking about something “Betty can you do me a favour?”  
“Sure”  
“Please tell him that I love him, and update me if anything happens, can you do that?”  
“Of course I will do that Jellybean, and in return can you do me a favour as well?”  
“Anything you want”  
“Convince your mom to talk to your dad, they both need it”  
“I will try my best”  
“Thank you”  
“No, I have to thank you Betty”

As they both hung up the phone, Betty thought about how mature Jellybean was considering her young age. Jughead always talked about Jellybean and about how cool she was, and Betty always wanted to meet her. It was unfortunate that they talked for the first time under these circumstances, but after this phone call Betty knew that they would get along very well. Two more days passed by, no change, no improvement and Betty felt like she was stuck in a never-ending nightmare. She still couldn’t believe that all of this happened. Over time, she had seen a lot of people getting hurt like Fred Andrews and she had even seen people die, like Midge or Jason, but it has always been so far away. Grief and tragedy were normal in Riverdale, it was always hard, but never could Betty have imagined how horrible it is when it hits you personally. She couldn’t believe that it hit her personally now, that it hit Jughead, especially Jughead. Like every other day, Betty woke up early and immediately went to the hospital, she greeted Hilda and went to Jughead´s room to sit down in the chair next to his bed. Betty felt like her whole life took place in this chair. At the moment, this chair was her best friend. After Betty had overcome her daily emotional outburst in tears, she sat there in this chair, very calm, very silent, just watching Jughead. Watching his chest go up and down. Holding his hand. First, she thought she was hallucinating, because what she felt lasted only for a second and it was so weak, that it almost wasn’t there, but then it happened a second time. This time, it was a little bit stronger and Betty realized, Jughead tried to squeeze her hand.

 

In a fraction of a second Betty went from being calm to almost hyperventilating.  
“JUG? Oh my god, Jug” She shook him very lightly and very carefully “Jughead, can you hear me?”

He didn’t give a reaction

“Jughead if you can hear me, then please squeeze my hand again, squeeze it as strong as you can”

He needed a couple seconds, but then he gave her a light squeeze, he was very weak and so was the squeeze, but it was there, Betty was not hallucinating, it was really him. 

“Oh my god Juggie” she stroked the side of his face “Open your eyes for me, please Jug”

Suddenly one of the monitors started to beep faster and louder and Betty couldn’t tell if that was bad or good, she panicked and ran into the hallway and screamed “I NEED HELP IN HERE” “Please! Somebody help!” Luckily, Hilda was nearby and heard Betty´s screams

“Betty what´s wrong? What´s going on?!” Hilda was worried  
“Jughead” that was all Betty could say and the two ran into his room, the monitor still beeped and as soon as Hilda heard what kind of beeping it was, she got a smile on her face

Betty still panicked “What is it? Why is it beeping”

“Honey relax, it´s a good sign, it means he is waking up!” Hilda pressed a button and turned the noise off “Give him a minute, it´s not easy to wake up after such a long time”

Betty nodded and took his hand again “Jug, it´s okay, take your time” she let her fingertips slide through his hair “I am right here Jug, I´m with you”

 

He again pressed her hand and then his eyelids started to move, he slowly blinked a couple times, because his eyes had to get used to the light again and then finally, Jughead opened his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I loved writing this so much because Jug finally woke up!!! As always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, feedback is really helping me a lot, Thank you xx

**Author's Note:**

> if you share my opinion about the season finale then please leave a comment and also leave a comment whether you liked the story or not.  
> Also if there are any mistakes then I´m really sorry but English is actually not my mother tongue!  
> I´ll post more parts really soon. xoxo


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